Monday 11 February 2013

Gooner Fan Focus- PSG

From time to time I love to endulge in the wonders of what makes our game so special. Really, its just us- the fans- that set football apart from any other sport in the world. Fan culture is something that interests me greatly, and every so often, I plan to profile a fanbase- looking at their history, traditions and culture. In this post, I'll take a look at the fascinating story of PSG.


A huge club with a lot of history and tradition Paris St Germain enjoy the second largest support in France and their notorious supporters are probably the country’s finest.

 ‘The Kobistes’ France’s most notorious hooligans have a dubious and at some points rather unpleasant history. After naming the stand the ‘KoB’ or ‘Kop of Boulogne’ after Liverpool’s Kop, the fans made the stand into a hub for French football hooliganism. Violence, racism and fascism were rife in the KoB and far-right groups began to dominate the stand. To try and alleviate the issue the club came up with a creative solution, building a rival Kop at the other end of the ground, which became known as ‘The Auteuil’. However, this only made the problem worse as various fan groups soon appeared in the new stand, forming a bitter rivalry with the KoB. One thing that didn’t help the matte was the fact that most of the fans attracted to the new stand were ethnic minority supporters, who were not welcomed warmly by the far-right groups of the KoB.

One of the amazing things about PSG is how these problems carried on until the last few years, with fan groups clashing internally, even leading to the murder of a KoB leader in 2010. However, PSG has managed to tackle its major hooliganism problems and after the media began to shed light on the often shocking behavior of some of the club’s fans, the KoB’s biggest group ‘The Boulogne Boys’ along with The Auteil’s main 2 groups ‘Tigris Mystic’ and ‘Supras Auteil’.

Despite, their shady and dubious history, there is no doubt that PSG fans deserve to be ranked among the most passionate in Europe. Their home support is undoubtedly one of the best on the Continent and their vocal support is second to none. Here is an example of their stunning vocal support in this clip:

 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxFAK6tKJY8

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